An unyielding wind came out of the north, igniting cheeks and ears with a cold that burned as much as it chilled. Colorful mittens, wool scarves, thick coats and waterproof boots are rarely mandatory for bird watchers, but on this day you would have been a fool to leave home without several layers.
John and Cathy Campbell picked up two additional areas Saturday to search for birds. Mid-December is a tough time of year for birding, but they eagerly volunteer year after year — for John, about as long as there has been a Kane Bird count. The winter conditions forced some spotters to seek shelter. Others decided to wait a day. But the Campbells were looking forward to fresh air; bird watching in inhospitable conditions is one of the few activities you can do without fear of running into a crowd — important these days.
The coronavirus pandemic has changed everything this year. This event wasn’t exempt. The Kane count is part of the National Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count. It’s been held for 121 years. Held north of Lovell in the Yellowtail Wildlife Habitat Management Area, it was a bit anticlimactic in 2020. Both the typical morning meeting — always filled with the laughter of friends reuniting — and the post-count potluck had to be canceled.
Audubon fully supported any group that decided to cancel their count this year: “There will be little to no impact on the scientific value of the Christmas Bird Count by missing or altering one count season,” officials instructions read.
Those who insisted on participating were required to abide by strict social distancing guidelines.
“We are living through unprecedented times,” the Audubon instructions read, “but the most important things are still those we choose to spend our time with.”
This was a special year for the local group: They were celebrating the 30th year of the Kane count. A few decided to remain quarantined for health reasons, but there should be no doubt their absence had nothing to do with the weather; it’s usually worse.
John Campbell knows about commitment. He has been reporting his bird sightings for more than 1,100 straight days to www.ebird.com. It’s an online database of bird observations providing scientists, researchers and amateur naturalists with real-time data about bird distribution and abundance. A botanist by profession, citizen science data is important to identify trends in species, Campbell said, both bad and good. It’s also a great way to spend the day.
“I’ve been doing it in recent years since I retired,” he said. “Maybe using the website is just an impetus to get out and look at things.”
Most people don’t come to the Yellowtail area in the winter to just walk around, the Campbells admit. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department stocks nearly 5,000 ring-neck pheasants here annually. It’s the only WHMA stocked in the Big Horn Basin and it draws in a lot of upland game bird hunters and their pups. There’s usually a few ice fishermen as well.
The habitat is in good shape and wildlife flourishes in the area. Most observations made at Yellowtail detail an influx of birds instead of pointing to species in trouble. However, “nationwide and worldwide, we see a reduction in the number of birds,” he said.
A couple of species has been moving into the Basin in larger numbers, including crows and invasive Eurasian collared doves.
The longevity of the Kane group’s volunteer work makes a difference, Campbell said.
“Participating makes you look at things much more closely than if you just came over here,” he sad. “And also, most people don’t come over here in the winter and not walk around, so you have it to yourself.”
Dennis Flyr, his wife Alice and friends Gary and Jan Hoar usually do the trip together. They come ready to see the birds from long distances using several options of optics and a camera with a telephoto lens.
“In case there’s any question about what species it is, we can hopefully identify it,” Alice Flyr explained of the camera. “Our friends might have brought their scope, but by the time you get it set up, sometimes the birds are gone.”
This year the foursome from Cody was forced to take separate cars to keep to the social distancing rules. They drove through their Yellowtail area, comparing notes by phone.
“The count is an indicator of how the ecology is doing,” Gary Hoar said. “We’re not scientists; other people can probably explain what goes on year-to-year and why. But that’s the real reason they do this.”
“Wyoming is so small. We don’t have a lot of people counting birds,” he added. “So I think anybody who can get out there and do some documentation is really helpful.”
Christy Fleming, Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area chief of interpretation and organizer of the Kane count, said they hope to recruit some new citizen-scientists for the count.
“If we want this to go another 30 years, we’ll need younger people to learn their birds and come out with us,” she said.
Yellowtail is a great place to begin birding, Fleming said, because the species are fairly common.
“Golden Eagles, bald eagles, starlings and robins; most of us can identify those. And we have a lot of that out here,” she said. “This is a good place to start.”
This year’s team of 15 birders found more than 40 species, putting in 105 miles by vehicle and 7 miles on foot.
"bird" - Google News
December 17, 2020 at 10:20PM
https://ift.tt/3gXq3oE
Kane Christmas bird count celebrates 30 years of volunteer citizen science - Powell Tribune
"bird" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2s1zYEq
https://ift.tt/3dbExxU
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Kane Christmas bird count celebrates 30 years of volunteer citizen science - Powell Tribune"
Post a Comment